Скачать или смотреть Jonathan Hawkins

Youtube thumbnail credit:
"London Chess Classic 2016 Day8-11 (31063626233)" by Wolfgang Jekel is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

Jonathan Hawkins was an English chess grandmaster born on 1 May 1983 in Consett, County Durham. He was not a child prodigy, but steadily improved through dedicated study, progressing from club level to International Master in 2010 and achieving the Grandmaster title in 2014. He became one of England’s leading players, winning the British Chess Championship jointly in 2014 and outright in 2015, and was known for his fighting, dynamic style. He also authored the book Amateur to IM, which inspired many adult improvers.

Beyond competition, Hawkins was deeply involved in coaching and mentoring, particularly juniors and ambitious amateurs. He was widely respected for his humility, generosity with his time, and honesty about the challenges of professional chess. In later years he focused more on teaching and supporting others in the chess community, while living in the southwest of England with his partner Angela Eyton, whom he married shortly before his death.

Jonathan Hawkins died on 22 December 2025 at the age of 42 after a brief battle with a rare and aggressive cancer. His illness progressed rapidly, and his death prompted an outpouring of tributes from players, students, and organizations across the chess world. He is remembered not only for his achievements over the board, but for demonstrating that significant chess improvement is possible later in life, and for the kindness and encouragement he showed to others.


(Music begins with a single, clear piano note, sustained. Then, a simple, resilient acoustic guitar pattern begins, reminiscent of a steady, climbing rhythm.)

Jonathan Hawkins

(Verse 1)
The library closed, the night was deep, the only sound was thought
A sixty-four square universe, with patience he was taught
No gilded path, no early crown, just questions in the quiet
A flame that burned on discipline, he alone would feed the diet
From northern towns and humble boards, a different dream was cast
Not born a king, but built a throne with every move amassed.

(Chorus)
Oh, Jonathan Hawkins, you showed us how to climb
With a spine of books and a will of steel, you mastered space and time
You took the road that starts behind, and walked it step by step
A grandmaster from a different mold, a promise you have kept
You showed us how to climb!

(Verse 2)
They chased the flash, the opening trap, the momentary thrill
You studied where the games are won, with a calm and focused will
Pawn structures, squares, and ending plans, the skeleton of war
You learned the soul, behind the speed, what all the masters saw
And when you sat across the board from those who learned by rote
Your quiet understanding was the anchor of their boat.

(Chorus)
Oh, Jonathan Hawkins, you showed us how to climb
With a spine of books and a will of steel, you mastered space and time
You took the road that starts behind, and walked it step by step
A grandmaster from a different mold, a promise you have kept
You showed us how to climb!

(Bridge)
And the message isn't just the title, or the trophy on the shelf
It's the quiet voice that tells you you can build it for yourself
That every hour spent in love with what you seek to know
Is a brick laid in the foundation that will help you break your own
cold
mold.

(Instrumental break - Guitar builds, joined by a soft, determined cello line that rises and falls like a thoughtful game. It peaks, then settles back into the rhythm.)

(Verse 3)
And when the final challenge came, a game not of his choice
He faced it with the dignity that echoed his chess voice
With courage as his opening, and grace his endgame plan
He showed the meaning of the fight, the strength inside a man
For every life’s an endgame study, complex and profound
And Jonathan, you taught us how to hold our sacred ground.

(Chorus - Full, with backing vocals, swelling but not triumphant—reverent and strong)
Oh, Jonathan Hawkins, YOU showed us how to climb!
With a spine of books and a will of steel, you mastered space and time!
You took the road that starts behind, and walked it step by step!
A grandmaster of the human heart, a promise you have kept!
You showed us how... you showed us all...

(Outro)
So let the children know his name, not just for how he played
But for the mountain he became, in the choices that he made
The proof that in the silent work, a mighty power grows
And every one of us can find the move that we propose...
The move that we propose...

(Music fades, leaving only the clean, resonant sound of the acoustic guitar, which plays the opening pattern once more, softly, before ending on a single, resolved chord.)